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Oakland Raiders Suspend Rolando McClain Two Games and Other Friday Practice News

November 30th, 2012 at 3:52 PM By Nicholas Gill

After all the drama between Oakland Raiders middle linebacker Rolando McClain and head coach Dennis Allen, a decision was made to suspend the former first round pick two games. McClain was held out of practice on Wednesday for a team related issue and was asked not to come on Thursday. Today, Allen handed down his punishment.

“All I’ll say is that I met with Rolando this morning, informed him I decided to suspend him for two games, conduct detrimental to the team, and that’s really all the details I have for you,” Allen said.

Allen would not specify what caused the McClain suspension instead deciding to deal with the situation in house. Ultimately the decision was determined by Allen even though he did consult general manager Reggie McKenzie. With McClain out for at least two games, linebacker Omar Gaither will fill his spot in the starting line-up

“I’m not going to get into any of the specifics of anything that happened that went into the decision,” Allen said. “That’s team related matters and we’re going to keep that within the family. Yeah, I discussed it with Reggie, but at the end of the day, this was my decision to make.”

Other news from Friday's practice includes running backs Darren McFadden and Mike Goodson will be game time decisions for Sunday's game against the Cleveland Browns. Both have missed the last three games with high ankle sprains, but were able to practice this week. Even if both are able to go, fullback Marcel Reece has done well in their absence and has earned more reps in the offense.

“Both of them will be game-time decisions,” Allen said. “Are they 100 percent? No, but we’ll know more Sunday. We’ll see where Darren is, but Marcel will definitely get his touches at the tailback position.”

Quarterback Carson Palmer has been dealing with a thumb injury throughout the week, but was able to participate fully today. He will remain the starter, but Terrelle Pryor will be active for the first time this season. There had been discussions all week that the team may try to mix Pryor into the offense and it appears that will be the case. He will suit up as the third quarterback, but it is unknown how much he will be used or in what capacity.

“If he plays, we’d have the plays that he’s going to run,” Allen said of Pryor. “It’s our offense if he plays in the game. But I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves right there.”

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Hall of Famer Al Davis took over the failing Raiders franchise in 1963, leading the team to a 10-4 record for the season and leading to Davis being named as Heado Coach of the Year by the Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, United Press International, Sports News and his fellow coaches.